Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-21
ROADS AND BRIDGES.
A Sermon from San Angelo with General
application,


san Angelo Record.
There is hardly anything of greater i'm
portanCe in the rapid development Of
country than good public roads. Often
these means Of communication have been
compare to the veins OF the body through
which tire blood Of life is circulating, and
certainly such comparison is good. The
life Of the body polite, whether i. Je 8
state or a smaller district, g
partly dependent on roads eStsb-
lishing the necessary connection
between the different parts. All com
MERGE would nave TO stop without them,
aud the cosmopolitan aspect Of modern
countries is cue 20 the vast improvements
OF the means Of communication. Tbs Is
known end appreciated by our citizens,
and not altogether in vain have been their
efforts in tails direction; GA the contrary,
We think we can safely predict that IL
less than SIX months the iron rails OF lnc
Santa Fe Railway Company viii
connect rs with the rest OF the
world, and silence the only Obiec-
lion which is sometimes raised
against San Angelo. Other railroads are
contemplating 10 extend their lines TO-
wards our city, aHd the time is uezr st
hand when San Angelo will be TIE indus
trial and commercial ceater Of the western
part of our state. But 70 make railroads
efficient there must De country TOsds Of
all the different classes provided ~ me
Legislature to COnnectranches, farms aEj
settlements with distributing points,
They are the feeders, and without them
railroads would be but TO little purpose.
The peculiar conditions under which
our town attained its first growth
have made the necessity Of well eStaD-
Hs1cd reads less apparent than II ought
10 have been. Land was Of little value
Roads were selected wherever the con
venience Of the traveller required them.
Not until late years, when rhe develop
ment Of the country enhanced the value
of the lands and consequently caused
the lands TO be fenced, did the road cues
ton receive the attention at the hands
of the Commissioners court
Its importance deserved. Our present
Commissioners court is fully alive 10 the
fac! that public roads are public neCes-
sity. A their last meeting they took the
preliminary steps to establish number
OF much needed roads in our county.
Their action ougR to be encouraged and
meet with the hearty approval Of al good
cttiz.Ds. Especially ought the law
be carried out that requires
roads to the county seats of adjoining
counties. Good roads make inter
course easy and encourage trade. All
classes of citizens are directly interested
in this Z amer, but especially is il to the
interest of the towns to have good roads
them in all directions, fer all
things being equal, that town most
easily reached by the public will secure
the largest trade. 1t goes without say
Ing, that roads ought to be secured now
when this can be done with comparatively
little expense. Land is cheap now, ,buU
is rapidly increasing in value. Let Tom
Green county, therefore, work a. once
with will to secure these avenues Of
trade so necessary TO her welfare. Many
of our streams should be brIdged in order
70 facilitate communication and trade.
Heavy loads can only be hauled With diff
fculty across the rough beds and up the
steep banks of our larger streams, and
frequently communication is stopped
by rises. The expense of building a large
bridge, it IS true, is heavy, but the ben
eft derived will amply compensate for
the outlay. Every one interested in the
development of the CouCho country ought
to form himself into q committee to Sc
cure roads aud bridges, assured that they
will add hundred fold to the wesl,h and
Of our county.